Agenda - Amazon S3 · Olivia explains that the Universitys policy is to not force lecturers to podcast their lectures. Another member asks for clarification on whether normal bus

Manchester Students’ Union Senate: Thursday 6th December 2018 |

Agenda

No. Item: Paper Item 1 Welcome

(Presented by Senate chair) 1.1 Apologies of Absence 1.2 Notices 1.3 Quorum check 1.4 Conflicts of Interest

2 Explanation of Senate (Presented by Senate Chair)

3 Steering Committee Report for September (Presented by Fatima Abid, General Secretary)

Paper 1 Pages 2-3

4 Minutes of Previous Senate (Presented by Adam Rogers, Senate Chair)

Paper 2 Pages 4-9

6 State of the Union Report (Presented by Fatima Abid)

7 Reports from Executive Officers Presented by:

1. Fatima Abid- General Secretary 2. Lizzy Haughton- Activities and Development Officer 3. Riddi Viswanathan- International Students Officer 4. Shamima Khonat- Campaigns, Community and Citizenship Officer 5. Olivia Meisl- Education Officer 6. Sara Heddi- Womens Officer 7. Sara Khan- Liberation and Access Officer

Paper 3

Pages 10-12 Pages 13-15 Pages 16-17 Pages 18-20 Pages 20-24 Pages 25-27 Pages 27-29

8 Officer Scrutiny Committee Report (Presented by the Scrutiny Committee)

Paper 4 Pages 30-47

9 Questions to Executive Officers and Senate Committees (Presented by Senate Chair)

10 Steering Committee Minutes for September (Presented by Steering Committee member)

Paper 5 Pages 48-51

11 Elections of Part Time Officers and Open Place Committee Members

12 Constitutional Proposals: 1. Ensuring Postgrads Are At The Heart Of Our Work

Paper 6 Page 52-59

13 Policy Proposals: 1. QTIPOC Inclusion and Advocacy 2. The Students Union Should Support the fight for marriage equality in

Northern Ireland 3. The Students’ Union should introduce a ‘2 for 1’ policy on tree

planting 4. The Students Union should limit environmental impact of large SU

events 5. The Students Union Should Take the Plastic Pledge! 6. The Students’ Union should officially support the Extinction Rebellion 7. Making Fresher’s Fair More Accessible

Paper 7 Pages 60-61

Page 62

Pages 63

Page 64

Page 65 Page 66 Page 67

14 Close Date of next Senate: Thursday 7th February

Page 2

Paper 1: Steering Committee Report (December)

To be presented at Senate on Thursday 6th December 2018

1. Overview

This report outlines some of the more major decisions made at the Steering Committee meetings on

Thursday 25th and Wednesday 31st October. The minutes from these meetings contain more information

on these and other decisions. The Committee verified the proposed policies and confirmed that the policies

were factually correct.

There were no amendments submitted for the upcoming policies.

2. Assigning Policy

The Steering Committee were first asked to assign the policies that were approved on the 7th November at

Senate under the Senate bye-laws:

52. If in the view of Steering Committee a proposal is put forward that creates or alters policy of the Union,

it shall be classed as a policy proposal. Every policy proposal that is put to a meeting of the Senate will be

assigned to an Executive Officer and a Senate Committee (or Sub-Committee) who shall be responsible for

its implementation in the event it is passed.

The table below shows the policies passed at Senate that were assigned to the following committee(s) and

Officer(s):

Policy name Assigned to

Assigned Officer

The Students’ Union should put the “T” back in “LGBQ+”

Steering Committee

Fatima Abid

The committee decided that these constitutional changes needed to overseen by Steering as this work

was seen as more ‘operational’ and required little student input.

3. Postponed Policy

At the November Senate, there were a number of policies that were not discussed due to running out of

time. Under the Union’s by-laws, all outstanding policy will automatically be included in the next Senate

agenda. Using their powers, the Steering Committee decided to make changes to the running order of

the policy proposals to ensure that any ‘time sensitive’ policies would be given priority.

4. Lapsing Policy

The Committee were also tasked with assigning lapsing policies to their relevant subcommittee(s):

Policy name Assigned to

Assigned Officer

The Students' Union should work towards the reduction and improved management of food waste on campus

Society and Citizenship Committee

Community, Campaigns and

Citizenship Officer

Page 3

Under the Union’s policy bye-laws:

8. After a policy has lapsed, Steering Committee will notify the Senate and the relevant Senate

Committee of this fact to allow them to propose that the policy (or a revised version) is readopted for a

further three years.

9. Any policy that has lapsed which is not renewed within three months of the notice from Steering

Committee shall cease to have effect and shall be deleted from the policy book.

The Committee felt that this policy were still pertinent to the student movement and reflected the work

of the Activities and Development Officer. The Chairs and Secretaries have been notified of lapsing

policy and will be taken forward for discussion at the next committee meeting.

Action: The Senate is asked to approve the report.

Page 4

Paper 2: Senate Minutes Thursday 8th November

Student Senate

Time, Date and Venue of the Meeting: 18:00-20:00, Thursday 27th September: BikoStreet Bleachers

Members in Attendance:

Contact Emmet Cleaver for a full list of attendees at: [email protected]

Staff in attendance:

Emmet Cleaver (Secretary) Democracy Coordinator EC

Adam Rogers Senate Chair AR

Apologies received:

Riddi Viswanthan | Annie Costello| Stuti Sethi | Saanya Afroze| Deej Malik-Johnson | Alexa Bernal

Minutes

The meeting commenced at 18:05

Agenda Point Details Action Lead Date

1.1 Welcome Quorum Apologies, Notice

The Chair welcomes members to Senate, Sent apologies are noted The Chair declares that Senate is Quorate

None

1.2. Explanation of Senate

Senate is reminded on Senate’s code of conduct and the democratic processes. None

1.3 Steering Committee Report

Adam Rogers presents steering report.

It was proposed that the process of submitting amendments was not clear and that the process needed to be made clearer.

The Chair explains that once policies are approved by steering committee they go onto the SU website where students can submit amendments.

Policy assignments to the relevant committees was explained.

Lapsing policies were explained.

None

1.4 Matters arising None

2. Items for approval

mailto:[email protected]

Page 5


2.1 Approval of September Senate minutes

The Chair asks whether the minutes can be taken as true record.

There was one action from the previous senate meeting: Education and International Student Officers to give a north campus report to senate.

The Education Officer provides this report to senate.

The minutes were taken as true record

Minutes to be

uploaded onto

website with

corrections made

EC 06/12/2018

2.3 State of the Union Report

The General Secretary provides an overview of their report. One question is raised by a City Centre Community Rep on why the Students’ Union took the action they in the Summer with the Rudyard Kipling poem that was replaced with another poem by Maya Angelou

The response was that an official statement was put out by the Students’ Union on the website relating to the poem and that no further clarification was necessary.

The report was noted. None

2.4 Steering Committee Minutes

The Steering Committee report is

presented and no questions or

objections are raised.

The report was noted.

Minutes to

be

uploaded

onto SU

website

EC 06/12/2018

2. 5 Officer Reports Fatima Abid- General Secretary.

The report was approved by Senate.

Lizzie Haughton- Activities and

Development Officer

Lizzy provides her report and no

questions are raised. The report was

approved by senate.

Deej Malik-Johnson-Welfare Officer

Deej is currently away from the SU and

so was unable to provide a report to

senate. He sends his apologies.

Riddi Viswanathan- International

Students Officer

None

Page 6


The Senate Chair asks Riddi to provide

an update on her work to improve

scheduling resit examinations for

international students.

The Education officer provides an

update to this question. She explains

that she has a meeting with Nancy

Rothwell to discuss this issue. Hopefully

there will be positive outcomes soon.

The report was approved by senate.

Shamima Khonat- Campaigns,

Community and Citizenship Officer

The report was approved by Senate.

Olivia Meisl- Education Officer

A member asked Olivia what she plans

to do around improving podcast

provision for registered DASS students.

Olivia explains that the University’s

policy is to not force lecturers to

podcast their lectures.

Another member asks for clarification

on whether normal bus services will

resume in 2019

Olivia explains that Government

Legislation will be passed. Magic bus

put in new services and university

cannot compete with this service so

that is why stagecoach has taken over

the route

The report was approved by Senate

Sara Heddi- Womens Officer


Sara Khan- Liberation and Access

Officer

Luke Collinson, President of OakHouse: A lot of access work never includes people from foster care- can action be taken and be looked at?

Look into

what

widening

Access

support

06/12/2018

Page 7


Sara k: Absolutely-I would love to take it forward after

Merelda: Advice service is amazing. We should focus on their approach to sexual violence. Can we look at this to get it changed?

Sara k : I am working with Sara H, happy to talk to you about this


provision

there is for

students in

foster care

Sara khan

3. Items for Discussion

3.1 The Students’ Union should put the “T” back in “LGBQ+”

The policy was approved by Senate.

Update the policy

register EC

06/12/2018

3.2 The Students’

Union should revoke

the policy making

senate more

accessible. Clapping

ban at SU events.

Policy proposer not present to present the policy. Senate will go straight to points for and against.

There are no points for the policy.

Cee Allaker: the policy says that moving to BSL applause will affect people, if you were at the senate were it passed V said that they used it in previous places and they used BSL as long as no one is present that it will affect (e.g. blind people) in which case finger clicking. In addition, blindness does not necessarily mean people cannot see – it’s being used as a weapon

Benjamin Dockerall: the issue here was the wording of a ban which upset people, everyone who was here last time knows that that is not what we voted in. We voted it in an idea of encouraging its use so maybe it needs clarifying or rewording it

Adam: it can’t be reworded as it has been passed

MP: the policy as passed before didn’t seek to ban clapping but sought to make it more accessible – repealing it would make it difficult for people to access Senate

Update the policy

register

EC

06/12/2018

Page 8


the problem with the policy is as it is so confusing surely we should vote on a new policy to amend it

Adam: we can only vote for this or against it. We can repeal this and then put another policy forward

L: it’s just the hijacking of it by the media, maybe it would help people

Name not known: Because of the confusion that the previous policy has made I think we should repeal this and do a new one next time so that it can be clearer. In addition, a lot of people weren’t here last time so it would be good to do it again where more people can speak

Sara Khan: I’m clarifying that the senate by laws state that if a policy is passed and then repealed then another policy cannot be passed for 3 years. Other pints- first I think it’s important to know that the contents of the original policy were clear and did not mention a ban. In addition, the policy was voted in by an elected student body. In addition, the message we would sent to the disabled student body shows that we passed a statement to help them and then chickened about because of a media storm which is pretty horrible to me.

Olivia: procedural – can we get Sara’s point clarified about resubmission

Adam: the policy could be resubmitted in September2019 as it can’t be resubmitted in the same academic year

CA: can you clarify that if you vote against this policy you vote to keep encouragement of BSL clapping used in the SU.

SED: can we prioritise time sensitive motions as one motion may expire by the 5th of December (Misogyny is Hate)

Adam: I can’t as we have already gone over and the bylaws prevent me. It can be brought up at the Exec Committee

Page 9


The Policy failed to pass achieving 47% for and 53% against.

4. For Information

End of Senate

The Chair notified Senate had ran out of time to discuss anymore policies and that any remaining policies would be taken to the next Senate agenda.

5. Any Other Business

None.

The secretary notifies the Senate because of the high volume of candidates for the Faculty Officer positon Senate has ran out of time. All policies not discussed at this Senate, will automatically be brought to the next Senate in December.

The meeting closed at 20.30

- PLEASE NOTE -

Next meeting: Thursday 6th December; 5:00 p.m.

Venue: University Place lecture Theatre A

Actions Summary

Agenda Point Action Assigned to

Date/Deadline

3.1 Items for Discussion

Update Policy Register

Emmet Cleaver

06/12/18 3.2 Items for Discussion Update Policy Register

2. 5 Officer Reports Look into what widening Access

support provision there is for students in foster care

Sara Khan

Page 10

Paper 3: Reports from Executive Officers

Fatima Abid- General Secretary

Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies

My priorities Progress (So far I have completed): Next Steps (In the next period I will):

Better Buses Campaign Campaigning Petitioning Promotion

Disseminate flyer amongst our students but also students at RNCM, TMC, Salford and MMU Pop up a ‘Sign Our Petition’ stall in the Union for students to sign or get to know about the campaign more

QTIPOC (Queer, Trans, Intersex People of Colour) conversation corners

Engaged QTIPOC students at UoM Engaged QTIPOC students at other universities (from other cities too) Engaging our youth communities

I want to start engaging young people in our city – this will help with establishing the Union as a part of Manchester and serves an element of ‘giving back’ to our community and our youth

Increase podcast provision I had a talk with new academics in Humanities which turned into a discussion on podcast use, and the importance of podcasts for students Next term will host/chair a discussion/debate between staff and students

Greater Manchester Student Assembly

Discussed the potential of GMSA with relevant staff at the Union (Ben, Emmet, Andrew) and the University (Patrick mostly, but also during our Senior Leadership Team meetings too – Simon Merrywest, Clive Agnew) and will approach Nancy Rothwell for advice and thoughts this week Set up a meeting with Ben Ward and Emmet Cleaver to discuss next steps after I circulated my brief (edited with input from people I have sought council from); came up with a provisional timeline for the project Set up meeting with Research & Insight at the Union to come up with themes for Join Policy Proposal

Closing Black Attainment Gap

Set up and attended meetings with Clive, Kersti, and Emma to look into statistics and numbers concerning ethnically black students We (Olivia, and Sara Khan) are setting up a black studies course that will hopefully be put on by UCIL (Interdisciplinary Learning)

Gen Sec on Tour I have organised 3 sessions for this term, 1 I have completed in the Main Library, and 1 (in the North Campus) coming up this week I do get engagement but not much and I think it might be because it is in the library, and people are on time sensitive breaks during their studying

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Pronoun badges I think it is important our trans students have pronoun badges so that they feel more at home in the Union – and it’s a little bit harder for people to miss-gender them They are given out in Senate, and given for anyone who asks for them

Stakeholder Engagement (University, Students’ Union and other important meetings I have attended)

Meetings I have attended Outcomes from this meeting Next Steps (In the next

period I will):

Student Senate 6th November – Union

Board of Governors (BoG) – University

Planning and Resources Committee (PRC) – University

Teaching & Learning Group (TLG) – University

Trustee Board – Union

Bi – weekly meetings with Ethan, Editor in Chief of the Mancunion Meetings with the team at FUSETV

We have thought up of ways we can engage the student body with the Exec; ‘specials’ that feature the Exec, and the work we’re doing We filmed a ‘Welcome’ video that showcased new parts of the Students’ Union and other events during Welcome Week

Filming Exec every month for an ‘update’ or different kind of progress report

Lessons from Auschwitz – in London Stansted and Auschwitz, Poland.

Attended an education project put on the by the Holocaust Education Trust and the Union of Jewish Students

Frequent meetings with the Jewish Society or JSoc

School Visit to Computer Science I got a couple questions from students on the efficiency of the Students’ Union when it comes to managing ‘big’ student societies such as theirs i.e. HackSoc which are managing around £40K

I have already conversed with Ben (our CEO) on how we can better cater to the bigger societies, we have contacted the President of HackSoc to arrange a meeting to better understand their needs when hosting Hack-a-thon

Frequent meetings with the Islamic Society or ISoc

Social Responsibility Network meetings I was able to give input on shaping the University’s next strategic plan such as divestment from fossil fuels, sustainability (going green), etc.

Annual Performance Review of Professional Services (PS) at the University

I asked that the university take student experience way more seriously than it is now – that means investing in halls, residences, sports, facilities,

Monthly meetings with Patrick – COO/Registrar at the University

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Monthly meetings with Simon – Director of Student Experience at the University

Able to communicate concerns of Jewish and Muslim students on campus Able to have input on student Mental Health, and what that means for Staff

Monthly meetings with the Library (Kathy and Simon) – Simon is from the Library Communications team

University Senate

Meetings with other Unions; Kathy (RNCM), Amie (MMU), Sam (TMC) in communications with Koby (Salford)

How we can better unify our voices to improve students’ lives in Greater Manchester, and how we can act ‘older siblings’ to our communities in Manchester that will help our youth participate in discourse that affects them

Plans until next Senate (February)

Action What I hope to achieve Next Steps (In the next period I will):

Meeting with other Unions staff and executive officers to present Greater Manchester Student Assembly or GMSA

Their support in contributing to a joint policy proposal that addresses transport, safety, and student contributions to our wider communities in Manchester

Host the meeting in Friend’s Meeting House in December, and come up with a plan on developing ‘themed’ sessions in the form of workshops that will build the bulk of the joint policy proposal It will be titled ‘Life as a Student in Greater Manchester’

Gen Sec on Tour

I hope to continue these sessions every two weeks after exams in the second term, but this time, bringing it into students in halls

Plan next term’s sessions/events with Marketing and Communications in January

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Lizzy Haughton- Activities and Development Officer



Societies Helped with societies training during fresher’s, helped to put on societies forums by getting in Hype Collective

To meet with societies coordinators and plan how we want to get messages out to societies properly. To put on other forums with different visitors and focuses.

Want Not Waste Managed to get the premises secured, and have almost fitted out the shop. Have ordered jars and gravity bins ready to be fitted, and have set up account to order the first stock. Have got together a team of students to help start the shop up. Will be opening on the 3rd December!!

The next steps will be to hold a big launch in the new year, with external organisations coming along to help, inviting key university figures, and union staff members etc. Also to set up a Want Not Waste society or campaign group who can get funding and go forward to make sustainable change in the Union.

Pangaea Haven’t helped out that much with September’s Pangaea as was concentrating on fresher’s more, and societies. Worked with Events and Activities team to put on a forum (in December) to bring Pangaea back to student organisation. Have worked with Marie to gather research from previous festivals to see what students really want. Planning to hold weekly Pangaea meetings for students in the new year.

Planning to hold weekly Pangaea meetings with a solid student team in the new year to plan for Pangaea summer 2019.

Community Fridge Planned to get a community fridge in the Zero-Waste shop – hasn’t happened yet as it’s not yet open, but already have a fridge to do it with so halfway there! Just need advertising…

Plan to open Community Fridge in the new year!

SU Green Impact Have worked hard with Andrew and Jack Lofthouse, and we have set up a SUGI committee who have met twice this year since the report came out from NUS (mid-October). Our plan is to go for gold this year, which is difficult but we will get it! I have put together a system on Basecamp for all staff and students to use, together with google

Will sort regular meetings for committee come the new year, and will ensure that all students are also helping to input into the system.

Page 14

sheets and descriptions of how to input evidence for it. We are planning a launch on the 3rd December to explain how the system works for all staff members.

National Day of Action for Divestment

Have been in contact with other universities across the country to put on the NDA again after last year’s success, and set it up with the help of People and Planet. Have relayed information to People and Planet society who have done some amazing work, but I’ve had to step back a little due to other priorities. Regarding divestment, however, I have been working on a resource for all universities with NUS members, and have managed to get the Exec team onto the Sub-Investment Committee of the University!

Will work more closely with P&P society next semester to get FULL DIVESTMENT NOW!

Christmas Fair Have planned a whole two days of sustainable Christmas fun on the 4th and 5th December including loads of societies!

If I’m here next Christmas I plan to make it even bigger and better, with external organisations getting involved!

Plastic-Free Campus Have sorted marketing and Facebook page for this campaign, and am also now sitting on the Single-Use Plastics working group in the university. Have also worked with the commercial director to put together an audit of Union single-use plastics.

Next semester I will get Polly on board to help out with getting students involved with this campaign, and will promote it through other campaign groups.

Ecosia on Campus Have set up the Facebook page and found some students to take this campaign over, woohoo!

Will be launching it properly next semester, and will set up meetings with these students and the Union/University to make real change.

Earth Week Have planned out a whole week of really exciting events, talks, workshops etc. for Earth Week in February. Looking goooood!

This will hopefully lead to more people getting involved with sustainability issues in the long-run, and more engagement with sustainability focused societies and campaign groups.

3. Stakeholder Engagement (University, Students’ Union and other important meetings I have attended)

Meetings I have attended Outcomes from this meeting Next Steps (In the next period I

will):

Health, Safety and Legal Group Been to 2 meetings so far, addressed fire safety and MAV.

Want Not Waste Session Spoken to students about the opening of the shop, fixed roles,

To open the shop!

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worked with staff to get shop up and running.

SUGI Had committee meetings and made system (as above)

To continue to meet with committee

10K Met twice, missed one communications meeting but decided with Jon not to go since it wasn’t really my department. Wanting to get more students involved, so working closely with SU, brought Molly into meeting too.

Will work with Uni to get more competition style involvement for 10K in summer 2019.

Union and SLT Have met several times on different occasions, got Exec to sit on Sub-Investment committee, had discussions about divestment etc. – very positive!

Will continue to meet with them to discuss various issues in different forms.

University Senate Been to both meetings this term. Discussed strategic vision, included divestment!

Will input more into the next meeting.

Trustee meetings Been to both Trustee meetings, various things came out, gave officer report, but not much input elsewhere.

Currently writing policy to put into next trustee meeting to Boycott Costa.

Audit and Risk Been to both meetings so far, didn’t have much input as it’s not my area of expertise.

Will work with supervisor to have more input in future meetings.


Action

What I hope to achieve Next Steps (In the next period I

will):

Fully opened Want Not Waste

To have fully opened and launched Want Not Waste with sustainable goals and achievements for and by students

Green Impact Committee fully functioning

To have a fully functioning committee inputting data regularly

Policies passed through senate

To pass the policies…

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Riddi Viswanathan- International Students Officer



will):

(NA)

University Senate Effectiveness Committee - Fortnightly

Increased student representation on university senior boards

Union Leadership Board Concerns about the SU and strategic vision of the SU

University Union Relations Committee (UURC)

Lobbying for policies passed at senate and expressing concern to the university and arranging 1-1 follow ups

Monthly catch ups- Director or Student experience and International Recruitment

Discussing progress and raising student concerns

International Mobility Group Strategies in engaging with distant learners

PGT Progression and Consortium steering group

Tackling BAME student attainment gap and helping them progress to post graduation

University SMT and exec meeting Opportunities for leadership team to discuss national issues and express each other’s priorities and concerns

University Senate Opportunity to engage with senior member of the university and academics. Raised the points about Migration Advisory committee report (MAC) affecting international students and persuaded joint communications to the government.


Action What I hope to achieve Next Steps

Enhance Employment Prospects Awareness campaign about the opportunities available at the SU (Details in Manifesto)

Run a poster campaign

Page 17

Enrich education experience and tuition fee review

Follow up the evidence with the university and continue to lobby for reduced tuition fee for international students. Will adopt the same principles for resit exams.

Organise workshops to inform students about this paper and policy works and get their views Will also be involved in lobbying for Full-time Postgrad officer position

Internationalise the Union Global week Plan and organise a global week working group

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Shamima Khonat- Campaigns, Community and Citizenship Officer



Landlord exploitation Worked with Marie (research and insight) to review and change the current rate your landlord survey. Created a timeline for launch and review of data. Been in contact with stakeholders to endorse the survey. Met with Cooper to start producing a strategy when dealing with bad landlords. Main problem: MSH doesn’t contract bad landlords therefore they’re unable to deal with general complaints from students that are gathered through SU’s rate your landlord survey. Finding ways to encourage landlords to be credited by MSH. In the process of creating the ‘Don’t let yet, rent right’ online campaign to send out key messages of not rushing into searching for housing and the consequences of this.

Set up a meeting with Acorn to see how I can support the work that they are doing. Continue working on the ‘Don’t let yet, rent right’ campaign. Work with Manchester Student Homes to introduce a review/rating system on their website. For students to directly review housing, which is then visible for all. Submit paper to MSH strategy group for IT purposes.

Homelessness Worked with Homelessness healthcare society to set up collections in the SU. Supporting The Big Change Society to create a UCIL Homelessness module alongside Olivia. Sat into lots of meetings with local homelessness organisations to see how SU can best support them. Working with volunteer’s hub at the university to see how we can attract students to homelessness volunteering opportunities. Working to give organisations spotlight on social media and through exhibition space.

Organising a Homelessness edition to campaign supernova to give organisations and societies the platform to network. A lot of students are passionate about getting involved in homelessness but don’t quite know how to. So this will give students the chance to speak to organisations directly.

Living at home/commuting students

We currently have the access direct grant which commuting students have access to. Currently analysing the data from the living at home students survey to see how we can make the university experience more accessible for students. (More events during the day).

Many students who have labs and clinic are refused in or marked absence if they attend late to the session. Delayed trains, trams and buses are beyond a student’s control. Hoping to work with Olivia to push for lecturers to take this into account.

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Work with Louise Dilnot to see how we can increase more events during the day.

Campaign training Held a stall at campaign supernova on how students can set up their own campaigns.

Work with Polly to see how we can improve the online campaign training. Organise a campaign training event.



will):

Social responsibility governance group (18th October)

Fed lots of ideas on the following: 1. Social responsibility

shouldn’t be one of the goals of the university but rather sits at the top with everything feeding into becoming socially responsible. I.e. we have research that is conducted which is then used for non-social responsible ways.

2. University is very well educated on sustainability and something they’re pushing for.

3. BDS isn’t on the priority. 4. Setting up a school in Africa

isn’t the solution

Student senate (8th November) Voted on policies Read out my report.

Patrick Johnson (Every 3 weeks) Discussed halal food, prayer rooms and faith committee.


Action What I hope to achieve Next Steps (In the next period I

will):

Organise Homelessness campaign supernova

- Provide a platform for organisations and societies to collaborate

- Students to gain awareness on projects they can get involved in.

- Form clear aims and objectives for the event

- Discuss ideas with Polly - Create action plan of

logistics with Max and Polly

- Contact organisations and societies

Halal food

- Continue progressing in discussion with food on campus.

- Set up more meetings with kitchens

- Set up meeting with head of food on campus and

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someone from halal certification.

‘Don’t let yet, rent right’ campaign

Launch the campaign - Work on key messages - Coordinate with marketing

team - Engagement with key

stakeholders

Commuting students Work with Olivia to push for lecturers to take transport delays into consideration

- Submit paper/notes to Olivia and create an action plan

Night owls and student angels Review current status of both and create a timeline for launch (most likely refreshers period)

- Sit down with Stephanie to devise a plan and launch student angels in Feb.

Campaign training - Organise a campaign training event.

- Speak to Polly about her current plans and see how I can organise an event. Inviting a well-known campaigner to deliver the training.

Homelessness module - Have a plan in place for the launch of the module for next academic year.

- Help find academics that will take lead in delivering the course

Prayer rooms - Continue to lobby for more prayer rooms

- Set up meeting with library, Ali g and relevant buildings.

Part time officers - Support my PTOS in creating the change that they hope to achieve in their role.

- Set up a meeting - Create a timeline of what

we want to collectively achieve.

Olivia Meisl- Education Officer



Student rep hub Rephub built by Carys and Lisa, currently with marketing. Student reps

aware of it via training. Due for soft release before end of S1, big launch S2

Promote this through the university. Have already taken this up with DSE. Would like all Academic Advisors to have a poster in their office and to

have this in AA training.

Student Voice Had the final say in where student voice was allocated in the newly created

Teaching College, Chair Student Engagement Group looking at how we

engage students and student voice, called for speeding up the addition of an extra officer on the board of governors, solely taken on the PG role proposal to engage PG voice and representation,

engaging faculty officers adequately to ensure representation

Author a paper to TLG and UURC on how to engage students adequately in

committees

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Support in place for students during strikes

Preliminary talks with SLT on how they expect to support students during

strikes

Ensure I am in the room for the conversations – currently pushing for

this

Earlier exam release Raised with SLT and DSE after work with Research and Insight team. Met with

Student Services and Exams division to discuss. Agreement of earlier exam

release, after system upgrade hoping to be implemented for 2019/20

Meeting scheduled in April to review exams communications

#liberatemydegree support

Have fed back into the inclusive curriculum document from the

university

Will further look into how we can more radically support

#liberatemydegree

Campaign against DSA cuts Contact and conversation with the NUS Disability Officer

Bring to SLT whether they can fund the cost of support that currently

disabled students pay for

Campaign against staff cuts and changes to

pensions

Will support academic staff in relation to staff cuts and changes to pensions

Continue to remain updated on balloting by the unions

Campaign to lower interest rate on our loans

Preliminary research done on this. Continue research into maintenance grant v lowering interest rate, also

wait for Augar Report



will):

Simon Merrywest (October and November, next in January)

Meeting Simon Merrywest in lieu of Louise Walmsley who is on compassionate leave. Spoke about NSS boycott, mental health provision for students (particularly on placement abroad). Spoke about marketing for the student rep hub

Meet with Therese Reinheimer-Jones regarding student wellbeing abroad

Therese and Campus Life Lunch (October)

Met many members of staff from Campus Life. Got them up to speed on this year’s exec priorities, and how we can work with Occ Health, counselling service, careers, DASS etc.

Really useful for information and now know all the leads in these areas

TLG (monthly) Successfully advocated for the feedback loop to be closed on UEQs through reports as in Geography, the teaching beacons to include ‘inclusive’, and spoke about academic advising experience and asked why the training figures in Humanities are comparatively so low compared to other faculties. Also presented exec stance on NSS 2018/19. Advocated for retention of PTES

Feedback and promote improved academic advising training. Will be promoting the student rep database in S2. Will also be presenting a paper on how to effectively engage students for a committee

TLLT (monthly) Raised concerns over how students in FSE are filling in the NSS, over consistency of academic advising

Will be on a student attendance monitoring group. Continue to effectively engage PTO UG/PGT on the committee as well as FSE

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education intern, through PTO open door before the meeting, support via email and Facebook for the papers and any comments they have

UTLC (monthly) Advocated earlier uptake of student and teacher awards, to ensure final years can take part

Continue to effectively engage PTO UG/PGT on the committee as well as BMH education intern, through PTO open door before the meeting, support via email and Facebook for the papers and any comments they have

PGTC (monthly) FIRST time there has been student representation on this committee after a request from myself. Have attended the first meeting to get an idea of the group’s remit and learnt more on the fitness to practice guidelines. Promoted better engagement with PGTs for PTES return

Continue advocating to the group to promote the open PGR/PGT BMH faculty officer spaces

HTLC (monthly) Promoted PTES, submitted ideas for improving Stellify uptake within the faculty, and Unit Survey uptake (UEQs)

Gather ideas for how to get students to fill in UEQs and participate in Stellify

Student Engagement Group and related meetings

I co-chair this group. Have been to multiple meetings and finally formed consensus with Thea Cameron Faulkner (Student Experience Lead in HUM) over the direction of the group. Will be writing a report and presenting to Clive in the new year.

Work with Thea Cameron Faulkner to steer the group’s into the most beneficial direction for students and student representation and engagement. Hope to also present a report on engaging students through committees through this group

Library 6 weekly meetings Library have agreed to promote senate, this will happen once we have copy in S2. Fatima will be working with the library to promote their survey through gen sec on tour.

Send the senate copy to the library once I have it

LSG Advocating for extra space during exams, the reuse of Stephen Joseph Studio as in 2017/18

Continue to work with the library to collect data on this and represent it to the group

LCASG Learnt a lot more about lecture capture and podcasting especially on the new legislation effective this year. Have fed back on the use of lecture capturing laser pointers, and smart whiteboards from SSLCs

Continue to gather information on laser pointers and smart whiteboards, continue to advocate full lecture podcasting for all students

UCIL UCIL academic board: presented the black studies module to the board to positive reception Also met with Cathy and Colette on separate occasions to discuss this module, and another advocated by The Big Change student society on homelessness.

Continue to work with academic staff to find leads for black studies module and homelessness module. Continue to promote UCIL uptake within the university (have done in T&L committees and APRs)

University Senate Ensured that the policy to add an extra member of the SU exec to board of governors is not waylaid by legislation

Continue to raise this with SLT and Senate to ensure that students are appropriately represented at BoG

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that is due to be passed – this has been minuted

SLT meeting Raised earlier exam release (and had a meeting with Student Services subsequently on this). Will be raising PG representation, NSS and student database at the next SLT meeting (22/11)

Meet with student services regarding earlier exam release (completed). Form exec team consensus on NSS (completed). Prep for the next SLT meeting.

VLE review Consistently represent student feedback over blackboard – i.e. consistency, ease of use, accessibility, usable features.

Work with Becki Bennett to represent what students actually want – this can get lost in the jargon of some of the university members of the group

BME attainment meeting Met with Clive, Kersti Borjas (AVP), Emma Hilton Wood. Covered what the SU was looking to do regarding BME attainment this year, and what the University currently does to support students

Continue communication with the University regarding the SU BME attainment campaign

Clive Agnew VP teaching learning and students

I meet with Clive before every TLG – to go over student issues and the TLG papers and anything else that I am working on. Defended the uptake of PTES

Promote student rep hub to Clive and request support on having this put in academic advising training and posters in academic advisor offices

Stagecoach and Estates meeting re 147

Met with Stagecoach and presented student feedback – asked for customer care training regarding international students, and more capacity on buses. 2 more buses now on the route, and they will review the fare increase in January, and look to increase service to every 7.5 minutes (instead of 10 minutes) in September 2019

Gather feedback from Coralie’s (FSE education intern) survey on attitudes towards the 147, present this on 10/12 to stagecoach

Danielle George (Vice Dean T&L) and Wayne Keating on Teaching College

Had a say on where students should represent in the new Teaching College in FSE. Education Officer will be on the leadership board. Will also be filming a segment for this

Film segment for Teaching College

Dean of FSE Martin Schroder (November)

Met with Martin to go over student engagement and representation in FSE, and how we can work to improve this, the effects of MEC-D on the faculty

Continue open dialogue with Martin on activity regarding student engagement in FSE


Activity: Events/ Focus Groups. Outcome Next Steps (In the next period I

will):

PG Pizza Over 300 PGs gathered for this

event. Really positive

communication with PGs regarding

the union.

Support Chloe Whittaker in

running this event again with the

Education Team

Our Futures Faculty Workshop Future plan of the university as recommended by students can be fed back to the university

Will attend the next set of workshops this semester and explain the work of the SU to the

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university. It has been interesting to meet students and find out their future priorities

DAGS Education Officer to inform DAGS of progress on PG officer proposal, and to improve communication

Continue to work with Chloe to look at our PG comms, speak with members of the senate to promote PG proposal (6/12)

Education Committee 6/11 Education Committee met, organised priorities as a group, I reported to the group on my work

Work on priorities 1. PG officer 2. Earlier exam release 3. Integrated learning

Education Committee 16/11 Education Committee updated each other on meetings. Wrote PG proposal

Support the Education Committee members in their meetings with PTO open door sessions before each T&L committee and support them before the next senate to speak to the proposal.


Action What I hope to achieve Next Steps

Student Rep Database

Big launch in semester 2. Promotional material in all academic advisors’ officers. Tab on mymanchester.

Collaborate with marcomms on the marketing and launch material for the big release in S2. Lobby TLG to ask all academic advisors to have a poster in their rooms, plus include this in academic advising training

Look into wellbeing provisions for students on their placements abroad

More supported students on their placements abroad, who feel better about their wellbeing. Potentially fewer issues and dropouts throughout the year with increased focus and support

Meet with the Director of Campus Life, potentially the counselling service and international programmes office

Look at how to engage PG, PTES, PRES etc.

Higher return rates for PTES/PRES (especially as they are now every other year). Increase amount of engagement with PGs regardless of whether the PG role is passed through senate

Work with the education team on our general PG comms, and how we can do PTES/PRES workshops with the university

Work more on campaigns – DSA (lobby university to make up fee)

The university either funding or part funding the cost of accessing DSA support

Raise this with Director of Campus Life, work with research and insight on how other universities have achieved this

Ensure that I am a key part of strike provision talks

More productive and beneficial outcomes for students in the wake of strikes

I am raising this at SLT (22/11), again requesting to formally be a part of the talks

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Sara Heddi- Women’s Officer



Reform the Universities Sexual Harassment Policy

Since June of last year I have been meeting with the University regarding the Regulation 17 which deals with this area. I have been working with them to make the procedure much more student friendly and accessible. Initially the change I wanted to make was more about the front facing issues that students were dealing with for example the longer waiting times for panels etc. However, these meeting were about making the process easier for students to understand. After a couple of months the final draft of the procedure has been completed and I and the University have tried to make this new version much easier to follow for students. I found that the biggest issue for students is that when disaster strikes they don’t know where to go or what the next steps are. Hopefully what myself and the working group have achieved will have changed that.

I will be working with the University and the Union to hold focus groups with students to gauge reactions on the final draft. We will be showing them sections of the new Regulation and getting feedback on how student friendly and accessible it is. Once we gather all the data from students then we will evaluate the results and collate it into the revised Final Draft and submit it to University senate for approval in February. I will also be working with the University on Student Rep training for panels to ensure that adequate importance is being given to the student panels and working on having a larger pool of student reps who are trained.

Lobby for a full time Sexual Harassment Advisor in the Union

Whilst there has been little progress on the Union front, I was able to work with the University to recruit a Sexual Violence and Harassment Response Manager. I attended the interview and assessed 5 candidates and successfully recruited one. On the Union front I have been in talks with Manchester Rape Crisis to see whether we would be able to office share with one of their advisors for part of the week. This would mean that one of the MRC advisors would sit in the Union as a point of call for students who need Sexual harassment advice. For this to proceed we would require more funding. MRC are currently in the middle of compiling a report which will outline the need for more funding.

I have arranged for part of her induction to be in the Union and hope to work with her more in the coming year. In terms of the report I am chasing it up and hopefully will have more to say on this next panel.

Expand the free sanitary range to include mooncups

Turns out the Advice Centre already give out mooncups.

Make sure this is well advertised.

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Launch a Union wide #ThisGirlCan week

So I had big plans for ThisGirlCan, work with the Athletics Union do a big thing. I secured £2500 of funding from the Union for sports societies to host their own events during the week.

Write down experiences in handover Document for the next Women’s Officer should she wish to do the same thing.

Further develop the 16 Days Campaign

So last year’s 16 days was a high success. This year we’ve decided to go with a much more focused campaign. I’m really excited because this year we have a whole team of liberation officers who are helping with the campaign. They are each submitting their own creative ideas for each day and I’m really excited for the stuff we’re going to be doing. We also have a whole host of charities attending some of the days and I think they’re going to add something much more to the campaign. This year the ideas are more creative, fun and definitely scream student activism. Look out for the campaign!

Update Scrutiny on the outcomes of the campaign.



will):

PGR Parents Meeting – Fri 2nd November

Discussed plans for a child friendly space in the Union.

Work with the Union to put the child friendly space into action and design it using input from a PGR parent’s focus group.

Union University Committees Review

- In this meeting I expressed EXTREME frustration about the lack of representation for the Women’s Officer on University Committees.

- I managed to work with our Governance Co-ordinator to get the Women’s Officer Representation on 6 more committees which is a big WIN I’m chuffed!

Attend these meetings.


Action What I hope to achieve Next Steps (In the next period I

will):

16 Days of Activism

Hope to have a really good campaign and provide some tangible successes!

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Reclaim The Night

Organise one heck of a campaign Work with local community groups. Engage even more students than ever before! I want to aim for 4,000 attendees at the march. Work with as many feminist artists in Manchester Successfully lobby the council to accept our aims. Have tangible success with the University response rate to reporting harassment.

Students of Faith Survey

A successful survey with at least 500 respondents. Engage all faith societies with the survey

Produce a report with recommendations for the University.

Sara Khan- Liberation & Access Officer

Manifesto pledges: “Provide more Union-funded conversation corners, socials, open mic, performance and other events for LGBT+ and BME people to network, support one another, and showcase our talent.” Throughout October, I was mostly occupied with finalising and facilitating events for Black History Month, which I had been working on organising in the months leading up to it. This included: the Black Attainment Gap panel, the Queer Black Narratives talk, the BME and QTIPOC conversation corners, and the Cultural Evening. In addition, I supported work done by the African-Caribbean Society to deliver events such as: Charity Games Night, the Haitian Revolution talk, the Black People in the Workplace talk, and The Great Debate. I also partook in the University’s Black History Month celebration, ‘Brilliant and BAME’, speaking about the Union’s work alongside Riddi, and running a stall alongside the Speak Up Stand Up campaign. Since the election of the new Part-Time Officers (PTOs) I have been working alongside the Disabled Students’ Officers (DSOs) to organise events for Disability History Month (November 22nd - December 22nd). This will include: a speaker event, a film screening and discussion about the representation of disability in the media, a photography showcase of disabled students’ and staff, and a workshop. As I was unable to contact the previous DSOs, one of whom has moved onto another University, I was unable to start coordinating this as far in advance as I had hoped, but next year we can hopefully be more ambitious. With February approaching fast, I have also set up a working group for LGBTQ+ history month with the Part-Time LGBTQ+ and Trans Officers, and the LGBTQ+ society. For Islamophobia Awareness Month, I have worked with Hidayah LGBT to develop a workshop on Islamophobia in the LGBT+ community, which we will be delivering on November 19th. I have also been working with The Proud Trust and the LGBTQ+ society to develop resources and safe spaces for LGBT+ people of faith. We will be hosting our first conversation corner for LGBT+ people of faith on November 14th. “Lobby for a curriculum that is more inclusive of the achievements of women, ethnic minorities and LGBT+ people.” I have been working with the Education Officer, the General Secretary, and the Research and Insight team on an initiative to diversity the curriculum. We have spoken to relevant stakeholders in the University about the possibility of introducing more BME-specific modules, with the long-term goal of lobbying for a Black Studies

Page 28

degree, and are conducting research to prove that there is demand for this. I am also in the process of contacting academics who might be able to design and deliver such modules. “Introduce part-time, mature students, student parents, and student carers’ officers to our Union’s democratic structures.” I spoke to our Democracy Coordinator about this, and he had already begun work on a paper to submit to the Trustee Board. Previously our part-time students, mature students, student parents and student carers’ reps were elected by senate, and had no autonomy, but now they have the same autonomy as PTOs under the category ‘Access reps’. Now that PTO elections have passed, I look forward to working with them to find out what the issues they face are, and how we can build a robust and active campaign. “Lobby for the University counsellors to receive training in culturally competent counselling, and work with the LGBT Foundation to provide training in trans-inclusive, LGBT+ friendly counselling.” I have been working continuously on developing annual diversity and cultural competency training for the counselling service. Since meeting with the Head of Counselling at the University, I have been in touch with the African Caribbean Mental Health Service, LGBT Foundation, Wai Yin Society, and Pakistani Resource Centre to develop a focus group in order to design this training. We are also working on allowing students the chance to register preferences for the gender or background of their counsellor. “Lobby the Students’ Union to cover the cost of GP letters required for mitigating circumstances forms for low income students.” I have been in contact with the Advice and Guidance service at the University to discuss accessing hardship funds to use for this purpose. Policies assigned to me: “The counselling service provided by the University should reflect the diverse needs of the student body.” See above - under manifesto pledge to lobby for training in culturally competent, LGBT+ friendly counselling. “The Students’ Union should lobby the university to increase the number of gender neutral facilities and to change the signage to accommodate non-binary students.” I have been in talks with the Director of Student Experience at the University on addressing this issue. He is keen to pursue thorough research into the experiences of LGBTQ+ students at the University, which will inform and bolster our case to lobby for this. Presently, many buildings that claim to have ‘gender neutral toilets’ are simply referring to accessible toilets, which is problematic and insufficient, but we will be more able to argue against this with data. I am working with the LGBTQ+ and Trans PTOs to shape this research. “The Students’ Union should lobby the university to include staff members’ pronouns alongside their contact details.” I have sent out a mass email to School administrators across the University explaining the importance of including pronouns in their staff email signatures, with uptake from a couple of schools, who have published this information in their newsletters. However, uptake from only two schools is very low, and I will be meeting with the LGBTQ+ and Trans PTOs to discuss how we develop a more robust strategy to approach this issue. Stakeholder engagement:

Trustee Board - attended 24 July, sent apologies for 13 September

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PGT (Postgraduate Taught) Progression Project - 11th September University-Union Relations Committee (UURC) - 22nd October BAME progression workshop - 8th November Union Senate - sent apologies for 27th September, attended 8th November Audit and Risk committee - 15th November Union Leadership Board (ULB) - sent apologies for 10th September, attended 16th October, sent

apologies for 13th November Met with Paul Brierley and Simon Merrywest to discuss Stonewall WEI (Workplace Equality Index) Met with Sarah Little-John to discuss diversity training for the counselling service

Your additional duties and responsibilities: I have recently been in touch with the National AIDS Trust (NAT), and am organising events, including a pub quiz, film screening, and bake sale to fundraise for this important charity. I have also been working with the LGBT Foundation to organise an HIV testing clinic in the Union building, details of which will be finalised very soon. In addition, I have organised a workshop on emotional labour and liberation activism for Wellbeing Week later this month. I have also been able to help some students who have approached me in confidence report hate crimes and make informal discrimination claims. As a member of NUS LGBT+ committee, I have been taking a lead, alongside the NUS LGBT+ Officer (Women’s Place), on the Race and Faith Inclusion Project. This has involved contacting Universities and Colleges across the UK to develop resources for QTIPOC students, especially in the many areas that are starved of such resources. I had the opportunity to visit the University of Leeds to deliver a workshop for QTIPOC and develop links with the Leeds City Council LGBT hub, as well as the chance to go to the NUS’s Liberation Training Day in London. I attended the first NUS LGBT+ committee meeting of the year, and will be attending the second in December.

Page 30

Paper 4: Officer Scrutiny Committee Report Members in Attendance: Evan Saunders Scrutiny Panel Member ES Mickey Eva Scrutiny Panel Member ME


Emmet Cleaver (Secretary) Democracy Coordinator

Apologies received:

Officers Interviewed:

Name Position Officer Score

Fatima Abid General Secretary

Olivia Education Officer

Riddi Viswanathan International Students’ Officer

Sara Khan Liberation and Access Officer

Sara Heddi Women’s Officer

Shamima Konhat Community, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer

Lizzy Haughton Activities and Development Officer

General Comments and Recommendations

Page 31

1. Fatima Abid, General Secretary

1. Hours Worked

2. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies

2.2. Other Achievements

2.3 Policies the Officer is responsible for


4. Additional Duties and responsibilities.

5. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny

Officer Score:

Page 32

2. Olivia Meisl, Education Officer

1. Hours Worked







Officer Score:

Page 33

3. Riddi Viswanathan, International Students’ Officer

1. Hours Worked







Officer Score:

Page 34

4. Sara Khan, Liberation & Access Officer

1. Hours Worked







Officer Score:

Page 35

6. Shamima Kohnat, Community, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer

1. Hours Worked







Officer Score:

Page 36

7. Lizzy Haughton, Activities and Development Officer

1. Hours Worked







Officer Score:

Page 37

Paper 5: Steering Committee Minutes

Steering Committee Meeting 6

Monday 19th November


Adam Rogers Senate Chair AR Fatima Abid General Secretary (Chair) FA Sara Khan Liberation and Access Officer SK



Apologies received:

None

Minutes



The meeting commences and the meeting is declared Quorate.

No notices are given.

1.2 Matters arising The Committee are notified that no matters arising


2.1 Approval of Steering Committee minutes

The Committee are presented the

minutes and from the previous meeting

and are taken as a true record.

AR confirmed that they took on the

agreed action points to notify the policy

proposers of Steering Committees

outcome.

The secretary notified the committee

that all actions have been completed.

Include in the Senate

papers

EC

2.2. Approval of constitutional proposal

The secretary presents the

constitutional proposal: Ensuring

Postgrads Are At The Heart Of Our Work

The committee are informed a similar

policy was rejected last calendar year

Notify the proposer of

the decision

EC

Page 38


and could put forward for December’s

Senate.

The Committee approve the policy


3.1 Amendment Proposals

The secretary notifies the committee that no policies have been submitted to the committee.

None

3.2 Assign Lapsing Policy

Steering Committee is notified of the

Bye-laws concerning lapsing policies.

7. Three years after its passing, a policy

will lapse automatically.

3.2.1 The Students' Union should work

towards the reduction and improved

management of food waste on campus

Society and Citizenship Committee

The committee assigned the policy to

the Society and Citizenship Committee

Notify the Senate

Committee Chair

EC 06/12/2018

3.3 Confirm Order of Agenda

The steering committee reviewed the

vacant positions, scrutiny reports,

constitutional proposals and list of

policies coming to Senate and discussed

what would require more time for

debate.

The committee decided that officers

should not need to submit a new officer

report and that a ‘reduced version’ of

the officer scrutiny report should be

used instead.

The committee were notified of that

two students had put themselves

forward for two vacant positions. The

secretary was advised to take

precaution by setting up an election

online before senate to avoid a repeat

of last month’s Senate.

the following running order of debating

policies:

The committee decided to adopt the

running order from last month’s senate

Create agenda for

Senate using

proposed running

order

EC 05/12/2018

Page 39


as it was felt there was no time

sensitive policies that were more

pressing.

The committee agreed to adopt the

running order format as instructed in

section 38 of the Senate bye-laws.

4. For Information

4.1 Assign Committee member to present Steering Report

The secretary notified the committee that a member of steering will need to present the report to Senate.

Steering agree to confirm a presenter by the end of next week (02/11/2018)

Include name of

presenter in Senate agenda

EC

Monday 24th

September


No further business is disclosed.

Steering Committee Meeting 5

Monday 26th November


Adam Rogers Senate Chair AR Fatima Abid General Secretary (Chair) FA Sara Khan Liberation and Access Officer SK



Apologies received:

None

Minutes



The meeting commences and the meeting is declared Quorate.

No notices are given.

1.2 Matters arising The Committee are notified that no matters arising

Page 40



2.1 Approval of Steering Committee minutes

The Secretary presents minutes from

the previous meeting at the committee

agrees they are a true record.

Include in the Senate

papers EC


3.2 Assign Policy to relevant committee

The secretary presents the policies that

were approved at the November

Senate.

1. Constitutional Proposal: The

Students’ Union should put the “T” back

in “LGBQ+”

The committee assigned the Steering

Committee to oversee this policy. The

decision was made sighting that this

required no student input and could be

overseen by a member of staff.

The secretary was actioned to amend

the Students’ Union by-laws and update

them as required in the SU by-laws.

Notify the Senate

Committee Chair

Update the By-laws

EC

EC

06/12/2018

4. For Information

4.1 Assign Committee member to present Steering Report

FA put themselves forward for presenting the report.

Include name of

presenter in Senate agenda

EC


No further business is disclosed.

Page 41

Paper 6: Constitutional Proposal

Proposal 1

Proposed by: The Executive Officer Team and Education Committee

Ensuring Postgrads Are at the Heart of Our Work

An action from the 2017/18 role review was to revisit the implementation of the Postgraduate Officer role a

calendar year into the future (December 2018).

The Union Notes:

1. 32% of students at the University of Manchester are Postgraduates. 12,590 PG students currently attend,

out of 40,490 students in total (http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=35329). That

leaves more than a third of students and their particular concerns unrepresented and without provision.

2. The postgraduate experience, as noted in the testimonials from other SUs (see attached document), is

vastly different from undergraduate, and far more wide ranging, and therefore requires specific

representation. Representation on the exec team is currently non-existent. There is increasing focus on

our PG work and projects (e.g., Post-Doctoral College representation, HEFCE funded PGR mental health

projects, and a number of committees). Around 15 other students’ unions have created the Postgraduate

role in recent years.

3. The university is currently committed to maintaining numbers of undergraduates, the only area that will

see increasing numbers is postgraduate. The Union must represent the student body appropriately, as an

organisation that is relevant and the voice of students. When the only two areas of growth are

international students and postgraduates, we must question why we have an International Students’

Officer and not a Postgraduate Officer.

4. Many postgraduate students see the Union as a place that is not for them and do not engage with us (see

attached document). Not only is this role proposal of actual benefit to PGs, but it is also an important

symbolic gesture that they do indeed have a place in the Union and are at the heart of our work.

5. This senate, in order to ensure that postgrads are at the heart of our work, proposes the creation of a full

time Postgraduate Officer.

6. In order to create this position, the committee proposes the merging of Welfare and Community into a

singular role. Currently, the roles of Welfare and Community overlap, particularly in the areas of safety,

health, and housing. This has led to a duplication of work, tasks and responsibilities, as can be noted in

previous senate reports. Improving efficiency and preventing duplication could lead to added resource

and time spent on postgraduates. Additionally, more than 20 other unions have merged these two roles

in recent years as they involve the same stakeholders (i.e. Campus Life, Manchester Student Homes, and

Manchester City Council).

7. In the last five years, the campaigns full time staff has increased from one person and a part time staff

member, to five full time staff members.

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8. (5 years ago: Democracy and Governance Coordinator, and a part time Democracy Assistant. Currently:

Governance Coordinator, Campaigns and Democracy Manager, Democracy Coordinator, Campaigns

Coordinator, Diversity and Liberation Coordinator, and student Senate Chair)

9. This significant increase in resource means that student campaigns are better supported than ever, and

the role of the campaigning officer is less vital than it was several years ago. This is due in part because it

is within all officer remits to campaign and additionally noting the manifestos of all the current full-time

officers, all have committed to campaigning. As well as this, we campaign in our own areas of expertise.

This has led to many duplications of exec officers when students come to them for campaign support. All

the campaigns have fitted into the remits of all officers with the support of full-time staff, meaning that

the campaigns officer’s time and resource could be reallocated usefully elsewhere.

The Union Believes:

1. This proposal, in order to ensure that postgrads are at the heart of our work, advocates the creation of a

full time Postgraduate Officer.

2. In order to create this position, the committee and exec proposes the merging of Welfare and Community

into a singular role.

The Union Resolves:

1. To adopt the following 8 full time officer positions and amend the by-law on officers of the union as

written and appended to this proposal document (changes starred). The new Exec team shall consist of:

i. Activities & Development Officer

ii. Education Officer

iii. General Secretary

iv. International Students’ Officer

v. Liberation & Access Officer

vi. Postgraduate Officer*

vii. Welfare & Community Officer*

viii. Women’s Officer

Page 43

APPENDIX 1: Supplementary Notes for Constitutional Proposal

Officer Role Review Proposals Date 16/11/2018

Author Exec Team

Background

This paper has been prepared to enable the final elements of the officer role review to be completed and the

recommendations be adopted within the timescales set for the Exec Team Elections in 2019.

In December 2017, Senate voted to review the full time Postgraduate Officer role in a year’s time.

This resultant proposal following four years of work and consultation by a number of officer teams. The activities

of the last five years can be illustrated in the following diagram:

In 2017/18, the Postgraduate Education Officer received 65% of Senate approval, however required 66% to

proceed. International Students’ Officer was approved and the Liberation and Access position was created.

2014/15

•Democracy review held to replace former Union Assembly, all sub-committees and a full review of all by-laws. Focus groups with over 150 students held, referendum in June 2015 held and passed all proposals

•Officer role review removed from the process to allow main changes to be made and to wait for development of new strategy

2015/16

•Strategic review of the Union conducted. Over 5500 students involved in surveys, focus groups and input into the plan which was commissioned by the Trustee Board. Further investment made into staffing structure around student facing areas.

•Review highlighted major concerns of the lack of involvement/satisfaction of international students and postgraduates through the research.

2016/17

•Strategic Plan published, with clear strategies to improve our offer to under-represented students. Review of support for international students by the University is completed and a series of recommendations made.

•Officer team completes detailed review of officer roles, with a number of preferred options developed. No time for advisory referendum to be completed

2017/18

•New officer team demonstrate commitment to review roles and complete work of the previous team. Call a referendum through Senate. An aspirational quoracy was set.

•Referendum is held, although does not reach the aspirational qoracy set, it still meets the needs of the constituiton and a clear majority is achieved.

Summary

This proposal to Union Senate sets out the next steps for the Officer Role Review that was looked

at last year. Senate voted to revisit this in one calendar year (December 2018). This proposal

makes a set of recommendations to be approved. It follows on from a series of formal and

informal consultations with the members of the Union during the last two years and follows on

from the recent all student vote. Senate is invited to endorse the proposals and mandate the

officer team to proceed with the new roles in time for the Exec Elections 2019.

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It is clear from the above process that there is an appetite for making changes to the officer roles, which have not

been reviewed since 2009/10. This proposal details some of the challenges and attempt to redress these by

adapting the roles written in the constitution.

Strategic Challenges

During the 2015/16 strategic review of the organisation, a major piece of research was conducted with students.

Over 5500 students took part in the project across the broadest demographic range which was reflective of the

whole institution. Below are participation rates in the strategic review research from the core domicile and levels

of study (main survey figures only):

In addition to the full range of student priorities identified, including some clear steers on employability, making it

easy to take part in activities, academic representation and a wider range of events, we undertook further

analysis of student satisfaction with the Union at a more granular level than previously. The below chart

demonstrates the clear differentials between undergrad/postgrad students.

In this research, as well as in NSS, MSS, the International Student Barometer and our own internal research,

postgraduate students are consistently around 20-25% less satisfied with the Students’ Union than other

students.

Involvement levels from Postgraduate Students

In each of the last 5 years, the Union has developed a ‘student involvement index’ which measures each of the

core interactions from students in each of our involvement channels. These are intended to measure deep

engagement rather than transactional items (purchases etc.) and includes club & society membership, voting in

elections, volunteering, course reps, RA committees, advice centre access etc. Here are the involvement levels for

each level and domicile of student type across the last year:

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Our engagement with undergraduate students is substantially stronger with postgraduate students. In the last 10

years, the University has maintained static undergraduate student numbers, and all growth (from 32,000 to

40,000 across the period) has been driven by international and postgraduate recruitment. The Union has not

sufficiently responded to this challenge, and continues to over-represent at home, undergraduate levels.

The representational challenge is further demonstrated by participation in the annual Exec Team elections. The

levels of participation at candidate level remain low. Here are averages for the 2014-2017 years:

Whilst these are averages, a consistent challenge is presented from a lack of involvement from postgraduate

groups. These are some of the drivers which have led to the options being developed to form the new Exec Team

Roles.

Staff changes in last 10 years

During the last 5 years particularly, a renewed focus has been placed by the Union investing in staff roles which

support and enhance student led activity. In 2007, there were 3 staff who directly supported these areas of the

Union’s work. In 2017, there are 39 members of staff who do this. Traditional portfolio roles have gradually been

replaced with high impact positions which can focus on the representation of students to decision makers. We

have for example recruited 5 members of staff to support student advice, whereas in 2011 it was delivered by 1

member of staff and a sabbatical officer. We now also have a core team delivering support for campaigning which

includes a manager, campaigns co-ordinator, liberation co-ordinator and a significant student staff budget.

The clear appetite for change

Since the 2015 democracy review, there has been a clear appetite to alter the make-up of the Exec team. It is

helpful to review the number of nominations received for each position during the time of the review process:

Position Nominations 2018

Nominations 2017 Nominations 2016 *

Nominations 2015

Activities and Development Officer

8 6 19 8

Campaigns and Citizenship Officer

(CCC) 5 2 6 3

Community Officer

(Liberation & Access Officer) 5

4 10 4

Diversity Officer (International Officer) 13

9 11 10

Level of studyInvolved

students%

All MCR

Students %Diff % engaged

UG 14085 81% 69% 12% 35%

PGT 2281 13% 20% -7% 12%

PGR 980 6% 11% -5% 10%

Level of studyExec

Candidates%

All MCR

Students %Diff

UG 29 76% 62% 14%

PGT 8 21% 26% -5%

PGR 1 3% 12% -9%

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Education Officer 6 7 18 12

General Secretary 7 6 10 7

Wellbeing Officer 7 6 20 8

Women's Officer

6 6 11 4

Total 57 46 105 56

* Number of active candidates settled at 59 once substantial drop-off occurred.

The 2016/17 Union Exec Team developed a series of 4 options for the new roles, which went forward to a

referendum of all students at the same time as the part time officer election. The constitutional requirement for

all referenda to become valid decisions is 1% of the total membership of the Union. This requirement has been

set based on the experience of such votes from the last 20 years in the Students’ Union. The rules can be found in

the by-law on referendums (Rule 21). The Exec Team asked a previous meeting of the Senate to call a referendum

within the rules and suggested an aspirational quorum of 3000 votes. Whilst this wasn’t achieved, there were

clear preferences of the electorate as below:

Option Votes Percentages

1 – Stay the same 42 9.7%

2 – Introduce Postgraduate Officer

54 12.6%

3 – Introduce International Students Officer

66 15.4%

4 Introduce Both 258 60.2%

Re-open Nominations (Abstain) 9 2.1%

Total 429 100%

A clear majority of those voting in the referendum chose option 4, to introduce both new officers. Irrespective of

the quoracy reached by the ballot, the next step was for the officers to bring proposals to the Senate and Trustee

Board. These are the only mechanisms by which the by-laws can be amended, and cannot be resolved directly by

a referendum.

Last year, post referendum, the officers initiated the following:

Series of workshops with students across the institution were set up to focus on the wider work of the

Union to ensure the officer roles are fit for purpose.

Synthesising involvement and satisfaction data (some of which is presented here) to ensure proposals

reflect reality and needed changes.

Impact in other unions

As a part of the 2018/19 research into the Postgraduate Officer role, research was conducted alongside other

Students’ Unions who have a Postgraduate Officer. More than 15 universities across the UK currently have a PG

role, with some of the Unions comparable to ours.

Nottingham Trent Union

Shakeel John-Lewis – PG Officer

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‘A major benefit is that it gives the education officer more time to actually to do their role and less stress which

leads to a happier officer. The education and Postgraduate officer here sit on all the same university board

meetings together so that gives two Students’ Union voices at high level meetings rather than one.

Another big reason is that Postgraduate students needs are wholly different from UG students’ needs and within

PG students, the PGR and PGT students’ needs are even more different so it makes sense to not group them all

under an education officer but group their representation under a Postgraduate officer who can deal with their

wholly different needs.

Also having a PG officer shows that the Union and maybe even the university in a sense care about PG students’

needs and with this, the PTES/PRES results may go up as they feel the university cares about their academic

experience as the PG officer helps make changes.

In summer our library opening hours go down from 24hours to 9am-5pm. This is not suitable as PGs are here

throughout summer so I with the help of postgrads made the head of libraries open later. Estates are now

working with me to get specific PG study spaces on campus.

To end I would say let your union know that the general trend in the education sector is that many people are

staying on to do a masters so the need for a specific representation will keep growing and growing.’

KCL Union

Jessica Oshodin – PG Officer

‘Students voted overwhelmingly to have a PG officer. We had a big graduate teaching assistant campaign – their

pay is awful, the training is poor. 46% of PGs suffer from poor mental health. Additionally those with a BME

background are less likely to progress. We now have PGT funding to consider, this wasn’t something in place a

few years ago so we have more PGs than ever before. KCL has the same number of PGs as Manchester. I develop

postgrad activities, look after their societies and clubs, their educational experience, and take an interest in their

wellbeing and community. I work with the other officers. We do events such as PGTea and PGTips, Open Forum,

Give it a go and random excursions. We have a dedicated postgrad webpage and sports teams. I ensure PG voices

are heard. Without an Officer, PGs don’t feel adequately represented in the Union.’

UCL Union

Saddiqur Rahman – PG Officer

‘Postgraduates have tremendously different experiences when compared to the average student (especially

postgraduate research students) which causes a disconnection and therefore requires a thoughtful and unique

pitch from the Students’ Union.

These are some of the things that I am working on or is in progress for my PG students at UCL:

- Fair pay for PG teaching assistants (PGTAs), support and contracts - Better PhD office spaces has been found and allocated - Changing academic regulations for our PG students’

Bath Union

Jiani Zhou – PG Officer

‘The main reason that the SU Bath set up such a role is because of our university strategy which looks to increase

our research capacity and postgraduate numbers. We would want to improve postgraduate student experience

here at Bath and they are among one of the least engaged groups of students.’

UEA Union

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Martin Marko – PG Officer

He looks to organise:

- Conferences - Activities like trips, parties, social events - Student organised socials - Campaigns (PGR rights etc.)

He notes that he does work on both PGT and PGR areas as there is divide between the two types of PGs, despite

the tendency to place them into the same bracket.

‘Focusing on impacts you are trying to achieve is crucial.’

This proposal therefore recommends the following as the resolution to be debated and voted upon:

1. This Union Resolves to adopt the following 8 full time officer positions and amend the by-law on officers

of the union as written and appended to this proposal document (changes highlighted in yellow). The

new Exec team shall consist of:

i. Activities & Development Officer

ii. Education Officer

iii. General Secretary

iv. International Students Officer

v. Liberation & Access Officer

vi. Postgraduate Officer

vii. Welfare and Community Officer

viii. Women’s Officer

2. Should the resolution fail to achieve the 2/3 majority as set out in the Senate by-law (rule 3a), the

proposal shall be rejected and the matter put to a close for the remainder of the academic year.

3. Should the proposal pass with the necessary majority, the Exec team shall submit the amendment for 2nd

stage approval to the trustee board who shall ratify the decision.

4. The new Exec roles will take effect for the new election cycle, with nominations opening in early January

2019. The necessary communications and engagement plan will be initiated to ensure new demographics

can be engaged effectively to stand in the election.

5. A further proposal shall be brought before Senate in the new calendar year to examine any consequential

amendments necessary to the other by-laws. It is likely there will have to be new sub-committees created

to support the new officer roles.

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Paper 7: Policy Proposals

Proposal 1

Proposed by: Sara Khan

QTIPOC Inclusion and Advocacy

The Union notes:

1. That during both Black History Month and LGBT+ History Month, there is a lack of outreach towards and

inclusion of QTIPOC (Queer, Trans, Intersex People Of Colour)

2. That QTIPOC on campus and in Manchester have frequently reported feeling unsafe, unwelcome and/or

under-represented in both LGBT+ groups as well as culture and faith societies

This Union believes:

1. That no one should be made to feel unsafe on campus, especially not on the basis of their gender

identity, sexuality, cultural background, or race

2. That more work needs to be done to foster a safe environment for QTIPOC in both LGBT+ and BME

spaces, and on campus as a whole

This Union resolves:

1. To establish connections with and collaborate with QTIPOC groups, such as Rainbow Noir and Hidayah, to

incorporate QTIPOC history into both Black History Month and LGBT+ History Month at the Students’

Union

2. To work with the LGBTQ+ Society, BME Manchester, Trans Campaign, and LGBQ Campaign to enshrine

regular QTIPOC conversation corners into Welcome Week

3. To include representation of, support for, and advocacy for QTIPOC in the role descriptions for part-time

BME, LGBQ and Trans Officers

4. To work with QTIPOC groups and with groups such as the LGBT Foundation to provide LGBT+ inclusion

and unconscious bias training to culture and faith society committees

5. To develop QTIPOC inclusion training for University and Union staff

6. To work with culture and faith societies, such as African-Caribbean Society, British Asian Society and Arab

Society to host events, such as debates, panels, and discussions on QTIPOC history and issues faced by

QTIPOC

7. To work with race equality groups, such as the Runnymede Trust, in conjunction with LGBT+ and QTIPOC

groups, to provide the LGBTQ+ Society and other LGBT+ groups on campus with BME inclusion and

unconscious bias training

8. To ring-fence £500 for QTIPOC events and campaigns

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9. To ensure that, at all stages of planning, the safety and confidentiality of QTIPOC students is taken into

account, protected, and maintained, using various strategies, such as ensuring that social media events

do not identify individuals attending.

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Proposal 2

Proposed by: Sara Khan

The Students Union Should Support the fight for marriage equality in Northern Ireland

This policy argues that the Union should support the Love Equality Coalition’s campaign for equal

marriage in Northern Ireland through fundraisers, awareness-raising, and more.

The Union Notes

1. That in the most recent vote, 51% of Northern Irish MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) voted

for marriage equality, but the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) was able to veto it by invoking a petition

of concern (1)

2. That 70% of the Northern Irish public are in support of marriage equality (2)

3. That Northern Ireland is the only place in the UK where same-sex marriage is still illegal

4. That reduced LGBT+ rights in Northern Ireland has led to a mental health crisis in the community that is

particularly severe, with 35% of LGBT+ individuals self-harming compared to 13% in rest of UK, 57%

drinking to hazardous levels compared to 24% in England, and 25% attempting suicide (3)

References:

(1) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-34692546

(2) https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/survey-shows-70-support-for-samesex-marriages-

in-northern-ireland-34842125.html

(3) https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/mental-health-northern-ireland-fundamental-facts

The Union Believes:

1. That marriage is a fundamental human right that everyone, regardless of their identity, should have

access to.

2. That it is our duty as a Union to fight for marriage equality and LGBT+ rights in Northern Ireland, not only

on behalf of our LGBT+ and Northern Irish student populations, but also as a fundamental human right

The Union Resolves:

1. To support the Love Equality Coalition’s campaign for equal marriage in Northern Ireland through an

annual fundraiser during LGBT+ history month

2. To support the Love Equality Coalition further by publishing a statement of support as a Union, and

running an awareness-raising campaign about marriage equality in Northern Ireland

3. To encourage the student LGBTQ+ society and local LGBTQ+ organisations to do the same

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/mental-health-northern-ireland-fundamental-facts

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Proposal 3

Proposed by: Lizzy Haughton

The Students’ Union should introduce a ‘2 for 1’ policy on tree planting

This policy argues that the Union should hold a 2 for 1 rule, or similar, like the University, on planting 2

trees for every 1 it 'cuts down' due to its purchasing of paper.

The Union Notes:

1. That the University of Manchester has a strict 2 for 1 policy on planting 2 trees for every 1 it cuts down on

campus. Although the University are not always leading on environmental issues, this is a really important

step to tackling climate change.

2. That the offices and bars use hundreds of sheets of paper a day for its daily business, which means that

hundreds of trees are being cut down.

3. That environmental sustainability is a key part of our strategic vision for 2020.

4. That the cutting down of trees is a key factor of climate change, and that we are running out of time to

reverse the existential threats to the human race brought about by climate change. Also that we should

invest large amounts of money to stop these existential threats that threaten everyone on this planet.

The Union Believes:

1. That it should mirror the efforts of the University, and go further, to tackle the effects of climate change

brought about by deforestation and carbon emitters, by enforcing a 2 for 1 rule, or similar, on planting 2

trees for every 1 tree it cuts down due to the usage of paper in the building.

2. That it should use existing help from organisations like City of Trees Manchester, Ecosia, and Tree Aid, to

plant trees both in Manchester and in areas that need it the most.

This Union resolves:

1. To carefully calculate the amount of paper that it uses, and use the 'tree calculator' to find out exactly

how many trees we cut down, and therefore how many we should plant through these organisations.

2. To carefully look over the finances and set aside the money to spend on the planting of these trees.

3. To limit environmental impact of large SU events

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The Students Union should limit environmental impact of large SU events

This policy proposes enforcing concrete and effective recycling schemes in the clean-up of all SU events,

and to ensure environmentally friendly materials are used.

The Union Notes:

1. That we are in a waste crisis. As seen in the BBC documentary ‘Blue Planet’, we all know the massive

environmental impact that plastic has, and we've all seen how much paper is wasted during fresher’s

week.

2. That the union needs to step up in the waste game and make more of an effort to hugely reduce

materials used in SU events and provide better recycling facilities to deal with the inevitable waste

produced by such events.

The Union Believes:

1. That all SU events, such as awards ceremonies, senates, catered meetings, and fresher’s/refreshers

weeks, should use environmentally friendly materials such as re-usable crockery/cutlery, re-usable table

decorations, bottled sauces (not sachets!), biodegradable straws (vegware, not paper, for accessibility

reasons), and other re-usable or properly recyclable materials.

2. That it should implement effective recycling methods as part of the clean-up process after these events,

and that it should communicate the dire need for this to all Union staff.

3. That it should, overall, reduce the amount of throwaway materials used in such events as a prior step to

implementing the above changes.

The Union resolves:

1. To communicate effectively with the Commercial Director this policy, to ensure it is carried out by all FOH

staff, and to put in place methods to reduce and recycle materials bought for such events.

2. To communicate with all Union staff the reasons for doing this, so that lasting change will be made.

References

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/plastic-crisis-urgent-recycling-bottles-no-fix

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/plastic-crisis-urgent-recycling-bottles-no-fix

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Proposal 5


The Students Union Should Take the Plastic Pledge!

This policy proposes to get the Union to follow the Greater Manchester Plastic-Free Pledge set up by the

Mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.

The Union Notes:

1. That Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has made plans to eradicate single-use plastics in

Greater Manchester by 2020.

2. That the Union is a place where great things can happen, where students can lead in changes like these,

and which should support these students to implement these changes.

3. That the Union also creates a huge amount of plastic waste, most of which is unnecessary and can be

stopped.

4. That the University has set up a Single-Plastics working group to deal with the plastic crisis on campus.

5. That there is also a Plastic-Free Campus campaign run by students.

6. That so far, it has failed to deal with the huge plastic crisis

The Union Believes:

1. That the plastic crisis isn't going to go away without huge organisations like ours taking a step to tackle it.

2. That taking the pledge will hold us accountable to both students and the wider GM public, and that will

get us in line with the University's efforts on tackling this crisis.

3. That although it is just a pledge, with nothing set in stone to actually carry out these actions, taking the

pledge will 'place us on the map' as an institution who cares about these issues, and who wants to make

change - moreover that we will receive help from the Plastic-Free GM group on how to go carry the

pledge forward.

The Union Resolves:

1. To take the Plastic-Free Pledge as part of one of the Plastic-Free Campus Campaign's milestones, to

communicate this with ALL students and the University.

2. To set up meetings with management to implement processes after the pledge has been taken, to create

lasting effects.

Reference: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-43488691

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-43488691

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Policy Proposal 6


The Students’ Union should officially support the Extinction Rebellion

The following policy proposes getting the Union to officially support Extinction Rebellion and to bring back a 1968 style student movement.

The Union Notes

1. That, according to the latest IPCC report, we have 12 years to limit the effects of climate change before

we enter into a runaway state which poses existential threats to the human race.

2. That our governments are failing us, and are failing to deal with this existential issue on two levels: firstly

that they have failed to bring about the necessary changes to stop this runaway climate change that are

only in their power to implement; secondly that environmental organisations have failed to put enough

pressure on the governments to bring about these changes.

3. That Extinction Rebellion, a movement born out of the civil disobedience network Rising Up! is organising

a peaceful rebellion against the government's criminal inaction on climate change, and is calling for

students across the country to take a stand.

4. That structural change only really happens when there is civil disobedience and non-violent direct action

involved, and that rebellion is justified once the establishment has failed us (agreed by political theorists

across the spectrum).

5. That it is a historic institution from which many true campaigners have been born, from which great

change has been made, and from which huge change needs to come. It notes, furthermore, that in the

last decade, student movements have become watered down due to the effects of social media, student

fees, and other external causes, thus campaigning by students has become less effective. Thus we need

to bring back a 1968 style student movement for Extinction Rebellion.

The Union resolves:

1. That by officially supporting Extinction Rebellion, it is supporting the freedom and rights of students to

protest directly, it is encouraging students to build the future they so desperately want and need, it is

raising awareness of the utter crisis that this planet is in, and it is taking a lead in the world where its

current leaders have failed it.

2. That by officially supporting the Extinction Rebellion, it will build a fundamental student movement so

that other Unions may follow, and that it will show to the University that Manchester can take the lead in

the fight against climate change.

The Union resolves: 1. to officially support the Extinction Rebellion, to communicate this by publishing it

externally, to connect with the movement organisation, to share the goals of the Rebellion, and to support the

student group already on campus.

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Policy Proposal 7

Proposed by: Liberation and Access Committee

Making Fresher’s Fair More Accessible

The Union Notes:

1. That Fresher’s Fair is a very loud, crowded environment that can be off-putting and inaccessible to students

with disabilities such as anxiety disorders, sensory issues, or autism

2. That because Fresher’s Fair is so crowded it can be difficult for people with physical disabilities, including

wheelchair users, to move around, therefore it can be difficult or even impossible for them to participate

3. That when students are unable to participate in Fresher’s Fair, it can hinder their participation in student

societies and their involvement with the Students’ Union, and hinder their sense of belonging in the student

community

4. That when students are unable to participate in Fresher’s Fair, it can mean that they do not find out about

important services and support that the Union and the University offer at all, or until much later

The Union Believes:

1. That students with disabilities should be able to browse and participate in Fresher’s Fair in a quiet, accessible

environment, instead of being limited to learning about societies and services that the Union provides online

The Union Resolves:

1. To introduce a “Quiet Hour” to Freshers’ Fair and Refreshers’ Fair, to be reserved each year, and to ensure the

designated area is clearly signed and meets accessibility requirements as informed by disabled students

2. To provide education and guidance for stall holders about on how to interact with attendees during Quiet

Hour

3. To provide a variety of equipment and services during Quiet Hour, as informed by disabled students (e.g. ear

defenders, chairs)

Page 57

L LOST:

If you are unclear about the debate that is being held or what you’re being asked to vote on,

show the page to the Senate Chair who will provide an explanation to what is being discussed.

Page 58

P PROCEDURAL MOTION:

Procedural motions propose a change to how the meeting is being run or what is happening in

the meeting.

If you think the way in which the meeting is being run needs to change. Show the page to the

Senate Chair.

(a) Withdraw an item, which if passed shall immediately end the debate on an item and the item

shall have the status of never having been considered by the meeting;

(b) Postpone an item to a later meeting, which if passed shall push the debate on an item back to

another specified meeting, provided that this cannot be used to move items into the next

academic year;

(c) Refer the matter to a referendum, which if passed shall trigger a referendum on the item of

business, and debate on the item shall end without a vote;

(d) Remit the matter to another body, which if passed shall delegate the matter to another

specified Committee for discussion or decision (as specified);

(e) End further debate, which if passed shall move debate to the summing up stage and then

straight to a vote on an item of business;

(f) Delete a specified part or parts, which if passed shall remove the specified part or parts from

an item of business.

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